Purchase intention suggests that penetration of smart speakers will hit 37% of the US population by the end of the year, and will be in a third or more of homes in four other large markets …

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The Accenture study Super Myway says standalone digital voice assistants are leading the way when it comes to voice-based technology.

Year-on-year growth in ownership of stand-alone digital voice assistant (DVA) devices is greater than 50% in all countries surveyed, regardless of the availability of local language services. If stated purchase plans hold, DVA device ownership will reach one third of the online population in China, India, the US, Brazil and Mexico by the end of 2018. While not yet as widespread as embedded voice assistant devices, stand-alone DVA devices are used more often and users are more satisfied.

Compared to embedded assistants like Siri, the survey suggests that smart speakers are used somewhat more often (75% versus 69% using at least weekly) and satisfaction levels are slightly higher (94% versus 91%).

Unsurprisingly, almost two-thirds of smart speaker owners said that they used their smartphones less since buying the speaker.

About the Author

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!